It’s Not What You Do, It’s How You Do It

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200 words, Alberta, Calgary, Conviction, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, embarassment, good work ethic, grateful, growing up, Guilt, hard work, humility, integrity, joy, kindness, life, memories, passion, pride

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’

Martin Luther King Jr.

When I moved to Calgary in 1990, I accepted a housekeeping job at a hospital.

I was so embarrassed by this job, when people asked what I did, I said I was an environmental engineer, which is what they called my position, and then quickly changed the subject before they could ask what that was.

I hated working there, so I cut corners and consistently scored low when my employer did surprise quality control checks.

But I started to feel guilty. So I decided to be grateful that I had a job, many did not, and I cleaned each room as if the next patient was Jesus.

A funny thing happened.

I began to take pride in my work.

I did little extras for patients.

I consistently scored 100% when my employer did surprise quality control checks.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Humility, Gratitude and Service

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community, compassion, courage, Diana Schwenk, Gratitude, growing up, happy, humanity, humility, Hump Day Chronicles, integrity, joy, kindness, laughter, life, living in the moment, love, Purpose, Relationships, service

I had the privilege of interviewing someone yesterday. Someone whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse and neglect. Someone who coped by making bad choices as a result.

His story was heartbreaking and made me question…

No, it made me wrestle with the whys. Why do people treat other people so horribly? And not just other adults, but children. Children who need a better foundational start at life.

But to be honest, that’s not the part of his story that stuck with me.

What stood out was his gratefulness. For every time someone showed him kindness. Every time someone reached out to help him. Went out of their way to give him hope. Saw him, loved him for who he was, took action to make a difference in his life — and did it all without judging him.

His story reminded me of all the people in my life who were pivotal, who were catalysts in changing my life for the better. Most did not even know to what extent they impacted me, inspired me, motivated me to find purpose in my life by serving others.

His story reminded me how important it is to reach out and help others just because I’ve been helped. To pay it forward, to never forget where I came from, to stay humble and grateful.

It’s what brings out the best in humanity. Don’t you think?

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

The Dance

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200 words, believe, compassion, courage, danger, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, enabling, Fear, growing up, happy, health, integrity, joy, kindness, living in the moment, love, mission, Purpose, sacrifice, world issues

How can we know the danger from the dance?

~ William Butler Yeats

How do you recognize the difference between what is good for you and bad for you? Does fun mean bad? Does safe mean good?

How do you balance security and risk? When is it best to tread carefully? When should you throw caution to the wind?

How do you evaluate your need and their need? When do you sacrifice yourself for the good of someone else? When do your sacrifices border enabling?

Living only for our own comfort is the worst kind of extravagance; and truly brings no satisfaction in the end. And a life of consistently compromising ourselves to accommodate the agendas of others only serves to annihilate us and the gifts we could share with the world.

Can we ever really know the danger from the dance? I don’t think we can. At least not until our decisions finally play themselves out. But a really good indicator that we’re making the right decision may be to question our motives for the choices we make.

Am I acting from a place of love or am I acting from a place of fear?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

How To Set The World On Fire

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200 words, authentic, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, dreams, grace, Gratitude, growing up, happy, History, joy, life, mission, passion, Purpose, That thing you're meant to do, true to yourself, vision

Be who you were created to be and you will set the world on fire.

St. Catherine of Siena

There was a time when it was considered good and sensible to accept one’s lot in life with grace and gratitude. A time when if your father was a servant, it would follow that you would be a servant, and your son would be a servant.

These days, we tell ourselves that we can be whoever we want to be. Some folks achieve their dreams, many don’t.

I wonder have we set ourselves up for failure and ultimately, a life of misery because of it?

Just as with any stream of contemporary thought in any given time in human history, when we examine our ideals over a long period of time, we discover that the pendulum has swung from one extreme to another.

So I find myself thinking it best that the pendulum rest somewhere in the middle.

That it doesn’t have to be completely this way or that.

That purpose can be found in this way AND that.

That any person using their unique gifts can set their world on fire; no matter their station in life.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

ALIVE – My Word For 2017

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200 words, alive, anger, authentic, believe, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, Fear, grief, integrity, joy, laughter, living in the moment, real, Relationships, sadness, true to yourself

Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.

Ernest Hemingway

I love this Hemingway quote. It calls me to be present in the NOW and to give all of myself to the moment at hand. And not only that, it dares me to fully experience the moment using all of my senses – to be wholly alive.

Life is sweet. Just to be here is a wonderful thing – even in difficult times. The odds were stacked against me to even be born! Yet here I am, and how easy it is to take my life for granted, to forsake what is right in front of me for what was, or what may, or may not be.

Alive.

I can feel my blood pumping through my veins just saying it! And so I know, it’s the perfect word for me in 2017.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

My words for previous years

Having Enough

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200 words, debt, desires, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, enough, Fear, greed, human behaviour, humanity, joy, life, living within my means, love, needs, sacrifice, survive, wanting

There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

G.K. Chesterton

Have you ever thought about what drives us to have more? Why we need a more expensive, newer car, the latest gadget, a bigger house, more money? Does what we have not work? Does our survival depend on it? Or is it simply a matter of social status? Why is it so pressing that we keep up with the Joneses?

We humans are wired to survive. We need shelter. We need food. We need security from those who might harm us. And once we have those bases covered, we need to belong. We need to be needed and we need to know that we can count on others when we need them.

But when do our needs become frivolous? What marks the event when we’ve gone too far? When we must ‘have it’ just for the sake of ‘having it’? When we decide to live outside of our means and willingly fall into debt? When do we cross that line of pure greed that sacrifices our fellow (wo)man’s ability to survive?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Duty

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200 words, believe, caring, community, compassion, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, duty, Fear, happy, health, integrity, joy, kindness, life, love, peace, Purpose, Relationships

I know of only one duty and that is to love.

Albert Camus

At first glance this Camus quote seems strange to me. I mean who would think that love or loving is a duty? Isn’t love a feeling that springs up over time? A luxury afforded those closest to us?

Perhaps it is true for romantic love, but even then, over the long haul such feelings of first attraction dissipate. Don’t they?

No, if anything, love is an act of one’s will. We must choose love over and over again. Often love is not even the easiest choice. Nor is it, or rather should it be, limited to only those who are closest to us. Most times the easy choice is to focus on our own interests, to turn our backs on those who need love the most.

I believe it’s fear that makes us put ourselves ahead of others. And in many ways fear has the opposite affect of love. Fear divides, where love binds us together. Fear says every man for himself where love says no man left behind. Fear builds walls to keep others out, where love builds bridges of inclusion.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

#YYCRocksforRecovery – A Huge Success!

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#yycrocksforrecovery, addiction, Alberta, believe, Calgary, community, compassion, courage, dancing, Diana Schwenk, Events, Fundraising, generosity, giving, Hump Day Chronicles, joy, kindness, Kings Head Pub, music, non-profit, passion, Purpose, recovery, Relationships, TLB Group

Wow – YYC Rocks for recovery raised $4,300!

Enough to provide a safe and sober Oxford home for two individuals for more than a year!

The energy and support at King’s Head Pub on Sunday, October 16^th for YYC Rocks for Recovery was palpable. 

Personally, and as a representative of Oxford House, I am so grateful to the TLB Group and its many volunteers who manned the door, sold wares, ran the auction, emceed the event, and who knows what else; King’s Head Pub, who provided all the food for volunteers; the Twenty-eight super talented bands who rocked the house down all afternoon and into the early hours of the morning; the amazing sponsors, the silent auction donors, and those who attended.

What a night!

I mean, how often can you get to see such high quality talent from so many musicians for $10 at the door these days? And each and every band played for free, played for Oxford House, played for the love of their craft – many sticking around after their set to support their fellow musicians.

Tracey, my coworker and I volunteered for a shift at the door early in the afternoon. The TLB volunteers were so welcoming and took the time to explain what we needed to do. It didn’t take me long to hand over the cover-charge-taking and tracking duties to Tracey who is the Financial Coordinator at Oxford House and way more proficient at these things than I am. That left me free to do the hand stamping, free haircut coupon distribution and the directing of musicians and volunteers to where they needed to go. The volunteer door shift was a blast.  One could feel the good vibes that came in with attendees.

Much to my pleasant surprise, my long-time friend Carmen whom I ran into by chance the day before on 17^th Avenue, showed up with her niece Stephanie to support the event. Carmen bid on several auction items, the last of which lit her face up like a Christmas tree when she won it. She can’t wait to take her friend from Montana on a guided fly fishing tour on the Bow River.

Mike Robertson, who donated the package for the auction stopped by to chat with us and was thrilled that Carmen was so happy about her upcoming fishing adventure. “I’ve been in recovery for thirteen years,” Mike told us. “And when I heard about YYC Rocks for Recovery I just had to do my little part.”

And that same spirit of generosity permeated the entire event. I was so blown away by everyone involved – it was ‘community in action’, coming together as one to rock the world of individuals in recovery.

Enjoy the photo gallery below

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And now a little taste of the stage and people thoroughly enjoying themselves on the dance floor…

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

For more information on the TLB Group

For WAY more photos and videos: YYC Rocks for Recovery Event Page

For more information about Oxford House

Present In The Moment

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200 words, anxiety, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, fully present, future, humour, Ivan Decker, joy, laughter, life, living in the moment, love, rushing, slow down

Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.

Eddie Cantor

You’re probably not present in the moment either!

Ivan Decker, renown Canadian comedian says:

I hate escalators. I guess I don’t have escalator etiquette. Why do people get mad when you stand on the left side of escalators? What, you’re too busy to stand on moving stairs for 20 seconds? What do you do on elevators? Punch out the ceiling panel and climb up the cable?

I laugh because that’s me. It’s ridiculous but that’s exactly what I do!

What am I in such a rush for anyway? Why must I make it to the top first? Why is it important that I make the best possible time to work? That I load my shopping cart and make it to the checkout in record time? What will I miss in the future if I don’t push through the crowd right now?

I need to keep working on being present in the moment!

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Do you rush toward some future task or are you present in the moment?

I’d Rather Feel Something

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caring, compassion, courage, Diana Schwenk, Fear, growth, happy, health, Hump Day Chronicles, joy, kindness, laughter, learning, life, Life's like that, living in the moment, love, pain, sorrow, strong

I’d rather feel pain than nothing at all. A phrase I’ve uttered many times over the years. A phrase that’s elicited just as many reactions.

Before you write me off completely as a wingnut, hear me out. It’s not that I want to feel pain, or sorrow for that matter, or fear, or abandonment, or rejection, or betrayal. It’s just that given a choice between any of them or nothing, I’d rather not feel nothing.

I have felt nothing on a handful of occasions; when I’ve given up, or I’m tired, or I just don’t care anymore. Nothing matters, whether I ever eat or sleep or shower again, whether I live or die.

Feeling nothing, being numb feels like being dead inside and that scares me more than anything else.

The sting of pain and sorrow and fear, etc., reminds me I’m alive and experience has shown me that it will pass and if I pay attention and embrace it, I will be stronger for it, I will learn to prioritize better, I will have more joy in my life, I will grow in compassion.

I loved this poem when I came across it today. I hope it speaks to you as well.

Love Sorrow

Love sorrow. She is yours now, and you must take care of what has been given. Brush her hair, help her into her little coat, hold her hand, especially when crossing a street. For, think,

what if you should lose her? Then you would be sorrow yourself; her drawn face, her sleeplessness would be yours. Take care, touch her forehead that she feel herself not so

utterly alone. And smile, that she does not altogether forget the world before the lesson. Have patience in abundance. And do not ever lie or ever leave her even for a moment

by herself, which is to say, possibly, again, abandoned. She is strange, mute, difficult, sometimes unmanageable but, remember, she is a child. And amazing things can happen. And you may see,

as the two of you go walking together in the morning light, how little by little she relaxes; she looks about her; she begins to grow.

Mary Oliver

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~